Community harvest milestone at Karlgarin

Karlgarin farmers mingle with McIntosh & Son, Kulin staff and sponsors during a break in Monday's harvest of 200ha of Mace wheat. Apart from the New Holland CR 10.90 supplied by McIntosh & Son, Kulin, local farmers Keith, Jill and Todd Fotheringhame supplied a Case IH 8230, equipped with a 13.6m (45ft) draper front, to speed up proceedings.

McIntosh & Son, Kulin, supplied this New Holland CR 10.90 combine harvester to take off the community crop at Karlgarin on Monday. It was "serviced" by a Finch chaser bin.

IN the scheme of things, it was an insignificant event.

But not for the 15 people who turned up on Monday to take off the Karlgarin Progress Association’s community crop.

Three years ago the association bought 200ha of land around the town courtesy of a loan from the local shire council and this harvest that loan will be paid off allowing a disbursement to the association to fund community projects.

In coming years all proceeds of crops will be invested in the community, which according to local farmer and harvest organiser Jill Fotheringhame, will play a contributing role in keeping Karlgarin alive.

“We’re just a small community and we need to keep coming up with things to keep everybody together,” she said. “It’s not just fund-raisers but also putting on shows and events that keep the community spirit going.”

Monday’s event saw McIntosh & Son, Kulin, provide a New Holland CR10.90 combine harvester on SmartTrax and equipped with a MacDon D65 13.6m (45ft) draper front to harvest the Mace wheat crop which was yielding between 1.7t/ha and 1.8t/ha with the majority making APW grade.

A total of eight header drivers took turns on the CR10.90 which was “serviced” with a Finch chaser bin.

Two truck drivers were employed to cart the grain to the local CBH bin.

“We are very grateful for the support of local suppliers and the McIntosh & Son staff,” Jill said. “The likes of CSBP (fertiliser), Great Southern Fuel, Lake Grace and FarmWorks, Hyden (chemicals) helped us out with discounted supplies to establish the crop.